What Hi-Fi? ask "Why doesn't anyone make 4K Blu-ray players anymore?"

[LexInHD]

The only retailer in Murica still offering any UHD-BD players and discs in their stores, is Best Buy. Everyone else kicked the format to the curb - while still fully pushing DVD and Blu-Ray players and titles - and currently only offers a sprinkling of new title release discs in their stores, with more selection online. Those budget players we had from Philips and Magnavox were pulled from the market very quickly, so they are no longer available. Unless Amazon decides to jump into the disc player game - to pair with their branded TV and home theater product lines - we could easily see the format go the way of LaserDisc, with discs being offered in retail markets for a few years after player availability to the general public declines to the point where you have no real options beyond 1-3 players that you have to put in significant effort and money to obtain.

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by LexInHD

The only retailer in Murica still offering any UHD-BD players and discs in their stores, is Best Buy.

That's not quite true. Target and WalMart still offer 4K discs, at least. I see them on occasion. Don't know about players beyond the latest PlayStation and Xbox systems. In any event, it's pretty much only the newest releases. Anyone who wants catalogue titles has to go online or roll the dice with BB. If it's not from a major studio, it's pretty much online-only, or maybe, if you're lucky enough to live in or visit the right areas, mom-and-pop shops like Grindhouse Video, or places that sell used discs. Otherwise, forget it.

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by apollo828

WalMart still offer 4K discs, at least.

I haven't seen 4K discs in Wal-Mart for quite a while. These days it's mostly some BDs, and a surprisingly large amount of DVDs. Seriously, given how cheap BD and 4K UHD BD players are these days, who even buys DVDs anymore?

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

I haven't seen 4K discs in Wal-Mart for quite a while. These days it's mostly some BDs, and a surprisingly large amount of DVDs. Seriously, given how cheap BD and 4K UHD BD players are these days, who even buys DVDs anymore.

DVDs are still cheaper, and that's all that matters to a lot of people. It has nothing to do with the cost of the players.

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

DVDs are still cheaper, and that's all that matters to a lot of people. It has nothing to do with the cost of the players.

But the quality is so poor compared to just standard BD.

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

But the quality is so poor compared to just standard BD.

Okay? Many people don't care. I saw Oppenheimer today in IMAX 70 mm. Only 30 theaters in the world can show the film in Nolan's preferred format. If people cared about top quality, it'd be at least 300 screens worldwide, maybe 3000 depending on how delusional one wishes to be. In the meantime, if you don't live near any of those 30 theaters and you want to see the film that way, it's time for a road trip or a flight, or settling for the 4K disc when it comes out.

(For the record, yes, the film looks & sounds incredible. I'd love to see more films shot this way.)

Hell, VHS has made a (small) comeback. There are people walking this planet today who, for whatever reasons (probably nostalgia), would rather watch some ancient tape on some ancient, barely-working VCR than watch it on any optical media. You can even buy new tapes! They're basically for collectors and eBay flippers, but yes, you can buy brand spanking new tapes, load them up on Grandpa's old deck, run it through some cheap HDMI converter you found on Amazon, and pretend you're 8 years old again. That's to say nothing of the many people who are content with old discs and think it's madness to purchase a film again, even if the new disc is a wonderful 4K HDR remaster.

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by apollo828

Hell, VHS has made a (small) comeback. There are people walking this planet today who, for whatever reasons (probably nostalgia), would rather watch some ancient tape on some ancient, barely-working VCR than watch it on any optical media. You can even buy new tapes! They're basically for collectors and eBay flippers, but yes, you can buy brand spanking new tapes, load them up on Grandpa's old deck, run it through some cheap HDMI converter you found on Amazon, and pretend you're 8 years old again. That's to say nothing of the many people who are content with old discs and think it's madness to purchase a film again, even if the new disc is a wonderful 4K HDR remaster.

The VHS resurgence I'm aware of. Same for new audio cassettes. But I always chalked that up to Hipsters/Millennials (or whatever they're called these days) simply being weird for the sake of being weird.

Originally Posted by Naiera

And people obviously don't care. Loads more DVDs are sold than Blu-rays and UHD Blu-rays. Combined.

Originally Posted by apollo828

Okay? Many people don't care. I saw Oppenheimer today in IMAX 70 mm. Only 30 theaters in the world can show the film in Nolan's preferred format. If people cared about top quality, it'd be at least 300 screens worldwide, maybe 3000 depending on how delusional one wishes to be. In the meantime, if you don't live near any of those 30 theaters and you want to see the film that way, it's time for a road trip or a flight, or settling for the 4K disc when it comes out.

I see your point, but it still seems weird to waste money on a lesser alternative when there are two better options (BD is quite a leap from DVD). It kinda reminds me of my cousin who would get mad when DVD purchases included a BD of the movie and would throw them away. She also got mad when I suggested she should have kept the BDs to at least future proof her collection. She then angrily told me not everyone could afford a new BD player or HDTV. To which I said she should haven then sold the BDs to reduce the cost of her DVD purchases. She was none too happy with my suggestion.

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

But the quality is so poor compared to just standard BD.

The people who buy DVDs care more about saving money than quality. As long as it's not your money, and you don't have to watch the DVDs in question, let the babies have their bottles.

[jonmoz]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

The people who buy DVDs care more about saving money than quality. As long as it's not your money, and you don't have to watch the DVDs in question, let the babies have their bottles.

Why turn this into some sort of competition, if people do not care about the quality aspect as much as we do, why belittle them in some way, they may see us as nerds with to much emphasis on the tech side of things.

[jonmoz]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

But the quality is so poor compared to just standard BD.

For most people DVD quality is more than fine, it's a very niche market that want's Blu-ray's and even more niche for 4k discs. If you were to ask a lot of the mass market, I would wager they had never even heard of Blu-ray movies, yet alone their 4K counterparts.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by RocShemp

I haven't seen 4K discs in Wal-Mart for quite a while. These days it's mostly some BDs, and a surprisingly large amount of DVDs. Seriously, given how cheap BD and 4K UHD BD players are these days, who even buys DVDs anymore?

WalMart had a bigger selection of discs on the shelves, when they (and others) sold several brands of UHD-BD player in their stores. 2017-2018 was when the format peaked in retail and I picked up many titles at WalMart, Target, and mostly, Best Buy. Now, WalMart pretty much only has the 4K discs on the new release shelf, though will occasionally have catalog titles mixed in with the DVDs and Blu-Rays, and only puts a bunch of old/new 4Ks out for the Black Friday sales. Target is the same way now. Because they have more space and a targeted market segment, Best Buy is just doing things as they did them before, albeit scaled-back a bit, and many stores have several UHD-BD cardboard shelves, in addition to mini-racks filled with titles.